Farhad Torfi’s research while affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and other places

Introduction Despite advances in science and technology, breast cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Iran. Previous studies have reported that there is a concrete relationship between this type of cancer and different kinds of risk factors, especially infection diseases. Among various kinds of infectious risk factors, much attention has been given to Herpesviridae. As the prevalence of EBV and CMV in patients suffering from breast cancer is not clear, in this study we evaluated these two viruses using PCR. Material & methods The phenol-chloroform protocol was used to extract DNA. Then, to evaluate the EBV and CMV infections, PCR analysis was performed to assess the presence of EBNA-1 and Glycoprotein gB genes, respectively. Results PCR illustrated two EBV positive samples among cancerous tissues while all normal adjacent tissues were EBV negative. Moreover, we did not detect any CMV positive samples. Conclusion According to the present study, there is no association between EBV and CMV with breast cancer in Iranian women; however, further investigation was required.

Introduction: Shoulder pain is one of the common musculoskeletal complaints of the patients with spinal cord injury. Corticosteroid injection to the subacromial bursa is one of the confirmed therapies which can be guided by anatomic landmarks or ultrasound. This study is aimed to compare these two methods to find the one with the highest therapeutic impact. Materials and methods: In this study, 30 patients with paraplegic SCI suffering from shoulder pain were enrolled. They were divided into 2 groups based on 4-block randomization sampling. The first group received subacromial corticosteroid injection through anatomic landmarks; while in the second group, the injection was guided by ultrasound. VAS criterion was employed for investigation of pain severity; while the constant score was used to study the shoulder pain and function. BREF questionnaire was also applied to examine the quality of life. Findings: The mean scores of VAS and Constant in both groups showed a significant improvement two months after intervention when compared with their condition before the intervention. This improvement was significantly higher in the ultrasound group. The physical, physiological and environmental health scores of BREF questionnaire as well as their total score showed a significant improvement in both groups two months after intervention. But this improvement was not significantly different between the two groups in terms of any of the items. Discussion: Hence, although ultrasound-guided injection is more costly and requires higher skills in comparison with blind injection, it is significantly more effective in controlling the pain and improving the shoulder function.

Given the global outbreak of breast cancer and its debilitating effect on women's health, it is not surprising that tremendous efforts have been made with an aim of shedding more light on the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this type of cancer. Among the long list of risk factors associated with this malignancy, recently, the role of microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) has turned into a hotspot for breast cancer investigations. miRNAs approximately 20 nucleotides in length and are located in either an exon or an intron, playing a role in the regulation of gene expression. In the present study, we extracted RNA from both the serum and cancerous tissue of breast cancer patients and after synthesizing the cDNA, we performed quantitative PCR to determine the expression levels of miR-9 and miR-192. The resulting data revealed that while the mRNA expression level of miR-9 was significantly decreased in the breast cancer tissues, there was no noticeable change in the expression level of this miRNA in the serum samples. Likewise, we found that the marked downregulation of miR-192 was only restricted to the cancerous tissues, but was not found in the serum of patients. Based on the meaningful downregulation of the expression of miR-9 and miR-192, this study provides a plausible framework for these miRNAs as effective biomarkers for breast cancer patients.

The current investigation was aimed to evaluate the oxidative stress (OS), blood factors, and neurocognitive state among cement factory workers who are exposed to dust during their work. Totally 41 cement exposed workers and 41 subjects as a control group were selected, and their OS, biochemical parameters, and a neurocognitive questionnaire were assessed. The results indicated that the levels of triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase were higher among the exposed workers. The rate of lipid peroxidation and total antioxidant capacity were not significantly differenced among the workers while compared to the control group. • Highlights • Cement industry may lead to several health impairments among cement workers. • A significant association between past dust exposure in the workplace and neurocognitive impairment. • Occupational exposures to these dusts may result later in life in adverse mental health outcomes.